Two cheers for the United Nations decision, Feb. 22, to establish a
war crimes tribunal to deal with the former Yugoslavia. It comes,
according to most reports, at least 20,000 rapes too late, and thousands
of mutilations and murders too late. Still, it could be a step toward
stopping the post-cold War world from a headlong descent into barbarism.

The three main warring factions -- Croats, Muslims and Serbs --
have all been accused of atrocities, and there seems plenty of evidence,
if only there is the will, to nail many of the perpetrators. While not
all Serbs are guilty, obviously, the Serb savagery has nevertheless been
so overwhelming as to make those perpetrators an abomination around the
world for ages to come. Crimes have consequences.

The fact that all factions are refighting old wars, including the
Hitler war, should have been a reminder and warning to everyone that the
hate that goes around comes around. Hate is blind, however, as is
rampant nationalism, and this is why the U.N. intervention is
irreplaceable.

There are convoluted historical and political reasons why it took
almost half a century after Nuremburg to take this step again. We may
be, in other words, at a pivotal moment. The will to continue the
journey that has been so tentatively begun is vital. The tribunal should
not be allowed to melt into a public-relations exercise, should not be
bartered as a bargaining chip in the search for peace.

Nations, preoccupied with their own problems, prefer, in cases like
this, to arrange a quick fix and put the whole nasty mess behind them.
But history shows how the Pol Pots and Radovan Karadzics keep popping
up. And in an ever-turbulent world, few nations can be totally sure it
won't be their turn next time. Who would have thought, 10 years
ago, or even three, that this would be happening in Yugoslavia? Who
would have thought great chunks of the monumental Soviet Union would be
on the edge of similar slaughter?

Despite its temporary fiscal problems, the United States is now so
uniquely strong that it can make or break not only the war crimes
tribunal but the United Nations itself. The tribunal will have teeth if
the United States gives it teeth.

The temptation could be great to bend to expediency in Bosnia. Or
to put short-term American self-interest ahead of lasting justice and
peace in that sorry region. While we rail against the onus of being the
world's police force, we seem to relish being able to make the
moral, legal and political decisions that keep the rest of the world in
its place and ourselves in the driver's seat.

In this new scenario, we would have to submit all, ourselves
included, to the scrutiny of a really independent tribunal. There have
been recent cases -- for example, from Iraq to El Salvador, from
Nicaragua to Panama -- when an objective tribunal might have considered
us as guilty as the next warlord.

On the other hand, it is not in our self-interest that the world
descend into barbarism. And we can't stop it by continuing to play
the Lone Ranger on the world political scene. Bring on the judges.

COPYRIGHT 1993 National Catholic Reporter
No portion of this article can be reproduced without the express written permission from the copyright holder.